The shock of Damiel’s lie froze me for a moment. I had taken the Sapphire Tear from its pedestal in the temple’s Reliquary, not he. I had used it and the Diamond Tear to send the Hive soldiers back to where they came from. Damiel hadn’t so much as touched either of the two immortal daggers.
So why had he lied for me? Nyx’s case against me was very convincing. If I hadn’t known I was innocent, I might have believed I was guilty too. If I hadn’t known I was no traitor, I might have damned myself too.
So why was Damiel, the Legion’s Master Interrogator and hunter of traitors, taking the blame? Why was he taking the fall for me? He’d made no secret of his suspicions of me from the start, and here Nyx was, confirming that I was indeed up to no good.
“You, Colonel?” Nyx turned to Damiel in surprise. “You took the dagger?”
“I did.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You serve the demons.”
“No.” The word punched through the heavy air in the room. “And neither does Cadence Lightbringer. You are inventing conspiracies.”
Nyx was undeterred. “I am inventing nothing. Our Dark Force prisoner confirmed that an agent was sent to steal the immortal daggers.”
“But he doesn’t know who this agent is or whether they were even successful in their mission,” Damiel pointed out. “For all we know, the agent was killed in the battle at the temple. Or there never was an agent. Maybe the Dark Force wanted you to capture this soldier, and so they fed him false information to give to you.”
Nyx pursed her lips. “To what end?”
“To make the Legion implode on itself.” Damiel’s eyes panned across our boisterous audience. “And see how well it’s working.”
“You admitted to taking the dagger.” Nyx frowned. “So why lie about serving the demons?”
“I am not lying about serving the demons.”
But he was lying about taking the Sapphire Tear and wielding its power. I’d done that.
A cool, silver sheen slid over Nyx’s blue eyes. “It all makes sense now. You. It was all you.” Her gaze flickered briefly to me. “She is too good of a soldier, too perfect at following orders, to betray us. But you.” She scowled at Damiel. “You’ve been taking things into your own hands for years. I humored you because you got results. Or did you really get results? All those traitors we caught and sentenced to death…did you actually free them? Were their deaths just a trick, an illusion? Did you send them back to their demon masters? Your demon masters.”
“You’re getting delusional, Nyx,” Damiel laughed. He looked very relaxed for someone who was being accused of high treason.
Nyx glanced at the guards holding me. “Release her. And take Colonel Dragonsire into custody.” She pointed at Damiel. “You know the punishment for your treachery is death.”
Damiel said nothing.
But I couldn’t say nothing. I couldn’t let him take the fall for me, not even if I too was innocent. I would not allow him to die because of me. I was about to speak, to tell Nyx that it was I who had taken the Sapphire Tear.
Say nothing, Damiel’s voice spoke in my mind.
I tried to speak, but his magic tied my tongue and muted my words. He locked his siren magic tightly around me, and he wasn’t letting go. His will had usurped my own. I struggled against his spell, but as I’d told him before, my siren magic was not strong, certainly no match for the Master Interrogator’s power. I could not break free of his siren’s song. I was just…frozen.
Frozen as I watched a pair of Nyx’s soldiers grab hold of Damiel and pull him across the room. Frozen as they chained him to a stone pillar.
Since the First Betrayer, judgment at the Legion of Angels had become merciless and the punishments swift. This was a firing squad. They were going to kill him right here and now.
The soldiers moved a few paces away from him, then turned and aimed their weapons at his head. I knew those guns. They were the ones used by the Legion’s executioners. Their barrels were as black as the magic within. They fired Venom bullets, pure poison to anyone with light magic. And angels had the most light magic of anyone on Earth. Damiel would not survive this.
I tried to break free of his spell, but I just couldn’t. He was too powerful. I pushed and pulled with every bit of magic I had, but for every move I tried to make, his magic countered mine.
I tried to use my passive magic to absorb his spell, but I wasn’t the only one with that power. So Damiel wasn’t just a Hunter; he had the magic of the Spell Breakers in him too. He gobbled up every spell I tried to use against him to break free.
My surprise at that realization—that like me, he could also wield several flavors of passive magic—was overshadowed only by my utter desperation to save his life. With every passing moment, fear gripped me more tightly. I couldn’t move or speak, and I wouldn’t be able to until it was too late, until Damiel’s death released me from his spell.
Do not attack the soldiers after my death, Cadence, he spoke in my mind. Be the perfect soldier, as I know you are. Watch your back. Do not do anything that will give my successor, the new Master Interrogator, any reason to suspect you.
Stop this, Damiel, I pleaded with him. Please. Don’t do this. Wet tears rolled down my cheeks.
You will obey my commands. You will live. You will not avenge my death. Otherwise, I will have died for nothing.
You are dying for nothing! I screamed inside my head. You didn’t do anything!
I have done more than enough in my many years as Master Interrogator. More than enough to deserve to stand before a Legion firing squad several times over. I have been responsible for putting many people before this firing squad. I allowed my suspicions to consume me. I dug and dug until I found something incriminating. No one is perfect. Everyone is guilty if you dig deeply enough. His dark, humorless laughter echoed in my head. Chasing my own tail indeed.
He was repeating my earlier words back at me. He was telling me I was right.
I didn’t care about being right! I’d rather be wrong and for him to live.
You’re a good person, Damiel.
No, I’m not. But you are, Cadence. And you don’t deserve to die because of this witch hunt. If someone is to die, at least it should be someone who has earned it.
You don’t deserve to die!
I slammed my magic against his. The impact shook me from head to toe, but I still couldn’t take a single step—or utter a single word to save him.
His magic softly brushed my cheek, as though he were right in front of me, not across the room. As though it were his hand stroking my cheek, not his magic. As though it were his lips whispering into my ear, not his mind speaking telepathically into my head.
Promise me you won’t attack the soldiers, he said. Promise that you won’t avenge my death. That you won’t dishonor my sacrifice.
Tears streamed down my cheeks. I can’t make that promise.
Sure you can.
Again I felt the soft touch of his magic against my cheek, caressing my face. Comforting me.
Nyx raised her hand.
The soldiers cocked their guns.
“Fire,” she commanded.
Magic flashed, bright and blinding. My first thought was that this was my father’s doing, his magic, that he was mounting a rescue.